Preventing Orthodontic Problems: Holiday Care for Braces

The holiday season is often a time for visiting with family, getting ahead on shopping, and ultimately indulging in a variety of sweet treats. Among Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve, there’s quite the amount of sweet treats to enjoy. While these treats are tasty, they can present a variety of issues to your braces and other orthodontic appliances, not to mention your teeth. With this, holiday care for braces is essential!

Here at Kraus Orthodontics in Allen, TX, we strive to keep our patients informed on all things orthodontics so they can stay on track with treatment and prevent any issues from arising. Plus, we want your teeth to be perfect when it’s time for the braces to come off. With the holidays quickly approaching, we’d like to help you get prepared! The treats that often accompany this time of year can be detrimental to your appliances, so allow us to help you determine what’s safe to eat and what isn’t. Of course, there will still be plenty of tasty foods for you to enjoy! First, let’s start off with some tips on holiday care for braces.   

Holiday Care for Braces: A Few Tips

Before we get into which holiday foods to eat and which to avoid, we thought we’d share some key tips on preventing orthodontic problems throughout the holidays. Of course, holidays aren’t all about great food—there’s plenty of activities to enjoy too. You should still stay up on your oral care, but you should also beware of orthodontic emergencies when taking part in activities. Take a look at the holiday care tips below:

  • Ensure you brush and floss around your braces regularly, as sugar consumption usually increases this time of year.
  • Whether ice skating, sledding, or having an old-fashioned snowball fight, be sure to protect your braces. A mouth guard may be a good idea for some of these activities.
  • If you’re going out of town for the holidays, be sure to pack some extra wax from Dr. Kraus just in case any issues arise. If you’ve had your braces removed, remember to pack your retainer!

In practicing holiday care for your braces, we can’t stress how important regular oral care is. A range of holiday treats are typically sugary, sticky, and hard to remove, so you should be extra thorough in your oral care.

Holiday Foods to Avoid with Braces

Like we said, it can be difficult refraining from the many delicious treats you’ll surely be surrounded by throughout the holidays, but they can present quite the problems, as with any time of year. Whether too crunchy or too chewy, a variety of holiday foods can be troublesome. Without further ado, let’s take a look at which foods to avoid with braces:

  • Peanut brittle
  • Pecan Pie
  • Candy Canes
  • Popcorn
  • Caramel Apples
  • Pretzels
  • Nuts

Now, we don’t want you going through the holidays without at least enjoying a few sweet treats. Luckily, you can still enjoy plenty of other goodies that won’t damage your braces and appliances. Here’s a list of foods you can enjoy:

  • Turkey and Ham (don’t eat around the bone)
  • Stuffing
  • Mashed Potatoes
  • Rolls
  • Pumpkin Pie
  • Custard & Ice cream
  • Soft Chocolates

Prevent Issues and Enjoy the Holidays!

While there’s a variety of foods and desserts you need to avoid this holiday season, there’s still plenty you can enjoy. Though you may feel like you’re missing out, you’ll be glad when you make it through the year problem free! Then, soon enough, you’ll have your braces off and a mouthful of perfectly straightened teeth.

If you’d like to schedule an appointment with your Allen orthodontist, Dr. Kraus, be sure to contact us today. You can also give us a call at 469-619-9959.